Public School History of England and Canada/England/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII.
STRUGGLE WITH WALES AND SCOTLAND.
1. Edward I.—After the death of Earl Simon and the defeat of the barons, Prince Edward went to the Crusades, and did not return until nearly two years after his father’s death. Edward was one of our best kings. He was a tall and powerful man, a great warrior and statesman—one who loved his people, although sometimes harsh and unjust. He had been a good son, and was an affectionate husband and father. In his reign many wise and good laws were made. From Earl Simon he had learned much, and now when he was made king he put Simon’s teachings in force. He began at once to stop the abuses carried on by the barons, who drove the farmers’ cattle away without paying for them, and took money from the people unjustly. He had silver halfpennies and farthings made into coins. Before his time the silver penny was made with a deep cut in the shape of a cross, and when a halfpenny or farthing was needed the coin was broken into two or four pieces.
2. Conquest of Wales.—Edward was fond of war, for he was a good general, and loved to do daring deeds and win fame. So we find that he had been king but a short time before he determined to conquer the northern part of Wales. The Britons had by this time lost nearly all the land they held after the English conquest, and now only North Wales remained to them The kings of England claimed that the Welsh kings should do homage to them, and sometimes they did. But Llewellyn, the Welsh prince of Edward’s reign, refused to do homage, and Edward marched into Wales with an army to force him to submit. Llewellyn after a sharp struggle agreed to recognize Edward as his feudal lord. But after four years of submission, the brave and high-spirited prince once more sought to gain his independence. Edward again marched against him, and took a number of Swiss soldiers accustomed to fighting in a hilly country to contend against and pursue Llewellyn in his -mountain strongholds. How it would have ended we know not, but Llewellyn was killed in a skirmish and then Wales was conquered. To please the Welsh, Edward gave them his son Edward as their prince., From that time, the eldest son of the sovereign has been called the Prince of Wales.
3. Reform in the Laws.—For nothing is Edward’s reign more noted than for its wise laws. The land laws were improved, and a measure was passed to prevent too much land being held by the church or by religious bodies, who gave no feudal service for it. The law courts were now changed. The office of Justiciar was abolished, and instead of one court we have now three: the King’s Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer. Lastly, as the Chancellor heard cases for the king, his court after a time became known as the Court of Chancery. But a subject could appeal from any of these courts to the king himself, and by him have his wrongs righted.
4. Expulsion of the Jews.—Edward, however, was. not always just to his subjects. One cruel thing he did. In England there were many Jews, the first of whom came over in the time of the Conqueror. They were a peaceable, industrious, and money-making people, but they were very unpopular. This was due, partly to their religion and race, and partly to the dislike of their practice of lending money, and charging high rates of interest thereon. Needy nobles were often glad to borrow from the Jews, and as the latter knew that they were disliked and the debts due to them would not be paid, if payment could be avoided, they charged heavy interest in return for the risk they ran. In these days, it must be remembered, taking interest, or usury, was looked upon as wrong and sinful by many people. The Jews were also accused of clipping coins and other dishonest practices. Edward knew how unpopular these persecuted people were, and, although it was for his own interest to protect them, he banished them from the land. He allowed them to take away their wealth, and England was much poorer in consequence of this cruel deed. From this time until the rule of Oliver Cromwell, nearly four hundred years later, Jews were not allowed to live in England.
5. First full Parliament.—Edward acted more wisely when, following the example of Simon de Montfort, he called a true English Parliament in 1295. Like Simon, he summoned two knights from each shire, and two burgesses (citizens of a town) from each borough, as well as the nobles, bishops, and higher clergy. The nobles and bishops were summoned by name, and the knights and burgesses by the sheriff’s writ or command. Edward thought that when all had to pay taxes, it was only right that all should have a voice in granting these taxes; or, as he said, “what concerned all should be approved by all.” The elections by which knights and burgesses were sent to Parliament were very different from ours of to-day. Every time Parliament met there was a new election. The people that sent the member had to pay his expenses; and for that reason, and also because it was known that Parliaments were called only to get money grants, both members and people had but little love for them.
6. War with Scotland.—From these reforms and changes which concerned England alone, we must now turn away to Edward’s dealings with Scotland. In 1286, Alexander III., king of Scotland, fell over a precipice and was killed. His grand-child, Margaret, daughter of the king of Norway, was his nearest heir. This little maid was going to Scotland to be made queen, when she died, and the throne was left vacant. There were many claimants among the late king’s relations, those having the best claim being John Balliol and Robert Bruce. The Scotch lords could not agree upon a king, and asked Edward to decide. The English kings always claimed to have the supremacy over the Scotch kings; but this claim was not always allowed. Before Edward would consent to decide who should be king, he called the Scotch Parliament together at Norham, near the border, and made them promise that whoever should be chosen, should give him homage as the feudal lord of Scotland. He then decided in favor of Balliol, who did homage to Edward, and became king of Scotland. Edward was an exacting lord, and wished to have cases, which had been tried before Scotch courts, taken to English courts for final settlement, and this demand the Scotch resented. Very soon Balliol found his position very unpleasant, and taking advantage of a war going on in France between Edward and the French king, threw off Edward’s yoke, crossed the border, and ravaged Cumberland.
Edward was now very angry, and marching north with a large force, stormed Berwick, and massacred its inhabitants. He then seized Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, and Montrose. At Montrose, he took Balliol prisoner, and then appointed an English Council to govern in his stead. To humble the Scotch still more he carried off to England the crown jewels, and the “sacred stone,” on which the Scotch kings were wont to be crowned at Scone. This stone, it was said, was the very stone on which Jacob had rested his head at Bethel, when he saw the angels ascending and descending the ladder from heaven. The stone was put into the seat of the royal chair at Westminster Abbey, and on it kings and queens have been crowned to this day. Wherever this stone went, according to a Scotch prophecy, there would a Scotch king reign; and, so it happened in England, about three hundred years after.
For a time the Scotch submitted to Edward’s rule; and then William Wallace, a brave knight, gathered a few faithful and true men together and defeated the English at Lanark, Scone, and other points. His forces having greatly increased, he met the English army at Stirling Bridge, and there won a famous victory. Once more the Scots were free, and Balliol was king, although a prisoner in England.
While these events were taking place in Scotland, Edward was in Flanders, helping the Flemings against the French king. He had troubles on every side: from Ireland, Wales, France, and Scotland; and he was much in need of money. He asked for a large sum from the clergy, but at first they would not give it, until he refused them justice and protection. He laid heavy taxes on his people, and in other ways ruled harshly and unjustly, until Parliament complained and resisted, and then Edward acknowledged he was wrong, and promised he would never more levy money without the consent of Parliament, and that he would always right the grievances of his people before a fresh grant of money was made. This new charter was given in 1297, and is very important. The next year, having heard what the Scots were doing, he marched north, and defeated Wallace at Falkirk (1298), although the Scots fought bravely against overwhelming numbers. Wallace escaped for the time, but in 1305 was betrayed by his servant into the hands of the English, and was hanged on Tower Hill, in London.
It was not till near the end of Edward’s reign that the Scotch again seriously attempted to recover their lost independence. Then Robert Bruce, the grandson of Balliol’s rival, escaped from the English court, and going to Scotland, met and killed in a church at Dumfries, his rival and enemy Comyn. Soon Bruce had a band of desperate Scotch nobles around him, and a little later he was crowned at Scone. When Edward, now aged and ill, heard of this new revolt, he hastened to chastise Bruce and the Scotch. Swearing to have his revenge on Comyn’s murderer, he travelled slowly northwards. When near. the border he sent an army ahead which drove Bruce back to the Grampian Hills. He was busy taking vengeance on Bruce’s supporters when death seized him, at Burghon-Sands, A.D., 1307. He was succeeded by his eldst son, Edward Caernarvon, Prince of Wales.
7. Edward II.—The new king had few of his father’s great qualities. He was an idle, frivolous youth, fond of gaiety and low companions. He was brave enough when roused; that, however, seldom happened. His father had left him three commands: to subdue Scotland, to send his heart to the Holy Land, and never to bring back Gaveston, a banished and profligate favourite. Not one .of these did he carry out. He left the Scotch war to take care of itself, and so Bruce won back nearly all he had lost to Edward I. He buried his father at Westminster, and he recalled Gaveston. Gaveston soon got Edward into trouble by his insolence and wastefulness. He was twice banished, but Edward brought him back. Then Parliament put the government into the hands of a number of bishops and peers, called “Ordainers,”'who tried to control the King. Once more Gaveston was exiled and recalled, and then the barons took the law into their own hands and beheaded him.
8. Battle of Bannockburn, June 24, 1314.—Bruce in the meantime had been winning town after town from the English, until near all Scotland was in his hands, save Stirling Castle, which was closely pressed. To save this fortress Edward went into Scotland with an army of 100,000 men. He met Bruce with his army of 30,000 Scots at a little stream or burn called the Bannock, near Stirling Castle. The battle was fought on June 24th, 1314, and was to determine whether Scotland was to be free or not. Everything. seemed in favour of the English, with their large army of brave knights and. archers. Bruce, however, had dug pits in the space between his army and the English, and in them had placed sharp stakes, the whole being covered over with turf. The Bannock flowed between the armies and on each side of it was a low boggy piece of land in which horses sank. Bruce knew he had most to fear from the English horsemen, and made his spearmen in the front rank kneel to meet their charge. When the English knights charged the Scots, after the English bowmen had thinned their ranks, their horses plunged into the concealed pits, and floundered in the oogs, and so became an easy prey to the Scotch archers and spearmen. The English sought a way around this bog and the pits to attack the Scotch; but at the moment when the Scotch cause was in the greatest danger, a number of camp-followers came over the hills on the Scotch flank, waving their garments and giving utterance to shrill cries. In their confusion the English thought this was a new Scotch army coming to the rescue, and panic-stricken they turned and fled. The battle was won, and Scotland was free.
9. Death of Edward II.—Edward escaped from the battle-field and returned to England, but it had been better for him had he been killed then and there. The rest of his reign is a tale of intrigue, misgovernment, and misery. There was famine in the land, and many died. The king took new favourites, and this led to new quarrels with the nobles. The only good thing to be told is that owing to these quarrels Edward gave the Commons a share in making the laws, as well as a share in paying the taxes. So serious did these quarrels become that Edward’s queen, Isabella, turned against him, and went to France, where she carried on a shameful intrigue with Lord Mortimer. In 1326 she came back with a small army, and, being joined by the barons, took the king prisoner, put his favourites to death, and made him agree to give up his crown to his son Edward, a lad of fifteen years of age. Then he was removed from prison to prison and finally to Berkeley Castle, where he was barbarously murdered A.D. 1327.